There are encouraging signs in Lyon County’s ongoing coronavirus pandemic situation.
Lyon County Public Health Emergency Preparedness Director Jennifer Millbern says the number of new cases has flattened out after the almost month-long spike in November. The presence of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for frontline healthcare workers is another good sign.
Millbern also says the state’s unified testing strategy, which includes the GoGetTested.com drive-thru site at the Fairgrounds beginning Friday, is a good development as well.
On Wednesday, Flint Hills Community Health Center CEO Renee Hively said the Health Center would continue its standard drive-thru testing line while the GoGetTested effort continues through Dec. 30. Both Hively and Millbern say it’s good to have several testing sites available in the community. The decision to continue the Health Center testing site reversed an earlier decision to put that option on hold during the GoGetTested effort.
With the positive developments come some ongoing concerns. Millbern says three of the people who died over the past few weeks were under 60 years of age, breaking the thought the virus is more deadly for elderly residents. Positive cases per 100,000 people are around 500, well above the 50 Public Health wants to see. Test positivity rates are sliding, but they are still around 17 percent.
Millbern says it could be summer 2021 before all COVID-19 mitigation strategies come to an end.
